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RAPTURE/Pre TRIBULATION~ Elaine/Admin
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PETRA BOZRAH JORDAN Micah 2 :12
Admin Fri 29 Jan 2021, 11:48 pm
Bozrah meaning sheepfold
http://www.endtimepilgrim.org/bozrahdeliv.htm?fbclid=IwAR2uBEeRiLPAvkMrDWpFic_ld_G8fze0Br9JdFosokKNpj0u_GUhA2iauvY
Micah 2
Hebrew Names Version of World English Bible
12. I will surely assemble, Ya`akov, all of you;
I will surely gather the remnant of Yisra'el;
I will put them together as the sheep of Botzrah,
As a flock in the midst of their pasture;
They will throng with people.
13. He who breaks open the way goes up before them.
They break through the gate, and go out.
And their king passes on before them,
With the LORD at their head."
Micah 2
King James Version
12. I will surely assemble, O Jacob, all of thee;
I will surely gather the remnant of Israel;
I will put them together as the sheep of Bozrah,
As the flock in the midst of their fold:
they shall make great noise
by reason of the multitude of men.
13. The breaker is come up before them:
they have broken up,
and have passed through the gate,
and are gone out by it:
and their king shall pass before them,
and the LORD on the head of them.
-Mic. 2:12-13 KJV
The image above shows a stone sheepfold of the type seen in biblical times. Here the sheep would be confined by their shepherd during the hours of darkness in a place of protection. As the dawn approached the shepherd would come into the sheepfold among His sheep. They would gather around the shepherd as he prepared to open a way for them to be delivered from the stone enclosure. As he opened a way out for them they would crowd up alongside him pushing against the gateway with a lot of force. This is the same picture spoken of by Matthew in that difficult and problematic verse in Matthew 11:12.
"The Kingdom of God suffers (allows) violence
and the violent (are pressing in to) take it by force." (Mat.11:12)
When the breakthrough came the whole flock would pour out of the sheepfold through the breach together with the Messiah as "the Breaker" going before them. They would follow on the heels of the Shepherd as he led them out to find pasture. This is the magnificent pastoral picture of the "man child company" breaking forth into holy history at the end of the age. This will change the destiny of heaven and earth. The stars and angelic dominions will fall. And here on earth Messiah brings in His Millennial Kingdom. He will minister and rule for a literal one thousand years.
This detailed picture of the deliverance of the Elect by Messiah (and not by the Dominionist church) comes at the second advent. This message of hope is given to us in Micah chapter 2. The drama begins with the gathering of Jacob, (which includes the both houses of Unrefined Israel). The true and genuine Church will eventually come to realize their identity in the Commonwealth of Israel. This gathering leads to the Bozrah exile and then culminates with the Bozrah deliverance. This sequence of events is laid out for us quite clearly and in detail in Micah 2:12-13.
Note well that the Second Coming of Christ is what brings the breakthrough here and not a Dominionist Church. Our Messiah is the Deliverer here. He and He alone is "the Breaker". No churchman will get Messiah's glory here even if he claims some super-anointed status in the charismatic "five-fold ministry" and pretends to be up to the task of bringing in the Kingdom Now. Neither today's "apostolic/prophetic", or the Papal/Jesuit Catholic leaderships cannot fit the bill here. Nor can today's political Puritan leaders or political Ecumenical leaders bring in the final breakthrough. Such actions in the flesh lead only to the Ecclesiastic harlotry John saw in Revelation 17. No crusading religious champions can lay claim to this end time glory. Jesus Christ/Yeshua Hamashiach is our Saviour and our Redeemer. He is also our future Deliverer. Man cannot do this. The scriptures declare unequivocally that there is one and only one intermediary between God and man, the man Christ Jesus.
1 TIMOTHY 2
5 "For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men,
the man Christ Jesus;
6 Who gave himself a ransom for all, ...."
He and He alone is "the man". No one else is capable of filling His shoes.
The Bozrah deliverance is a thrilling element of the Second Coming of Christ. He is the Anointed One and our coming Messiah. The Micah 2 scripture shows the connection of the Second Coming of Christ to Bozrah, (an Edomite domain), very well. We also see The Bozrah deliverance laid out for us in spectacular fashion in Isaiah 63. This is the judgment side to the Second Coming of Christ. God is obviously telling us something here in these Bozrah scriptures. Each of them clearly relate to the return of Messiah.
Why has this crucial information regarding the deliverance of God's elect from Edomite incarceration at the end of the age been omitted from teachings on end-time themes? Is this not some exceedingly good and encouraging news?
Why haven't we heard this before?
God's covenant people in the end-time drama are showcased in scripture in several ways.
Jesus calls them 'the Elect' (singular) in the Olivet Discourse.
In Genesis and in Revelation 12 we also see them pictured as 'the woman'. They are also called the Commonwealth of Israel in Ephesians 2:11-13. They are called 'Jacob' in Micah 2:12-13. The prophet Micah states that they will be gathered in exile "as the sheep of Bozrah". (Mic. 12:12-13)
Why is this flight to Bozrah necessary?
The Apostle John gives us the reason.
The 'woman'/Israel/the Church is being pursued by the dragon.
She is given the wings of a great eagle.
And so she flees to pre-ordained a place of safety. (Rev.12:6)
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Re: RAPTURE/Pre TRIBULATION~ Elaine/Admin
Admin Fri 08 Nov 2019, 3:17 pm
1 Thessalonians 4:15-17 New International Version (NIV)
15 According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep.
16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.
17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.
https://www.jashow.org/articles/what-does-2-thessalonians-2-teach-about-the-timing-of-the-rapture/
What does 2 Thessalonians 2 teach about the timing of the Rapture?
Dr. Renald Showers:
One of the passages that is often a question mark with regard to the timing of the Rapture is 2 Thessalonians Chapter 2. Paul in verse 1 says, “Now, we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and by our gathering together unto Him.” That’s definitely a reference to the Rapture, when Christ is going to come out of Heaven and gather His saints together with Him. Let me point out to you, the Greek language, what it says is: “We beseech you, brethren, on behalf of the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together unto Him.”
Let me tell you why Paul was saying that. Paul had taught the Thessalonian Christians, we understand, that the Lord would come and rapture the Church saints out of the world before the future Day of the Lord would begin at the beginning of the seven-year Tribulation period with the outpouring of God’s wrath. But after Paul had taught the Thessalonians that and had left the city, somebody had sent a letter or had passed on words through some form to them to the effect that Paul now was teaching that the Day of the Lord had already begun and that they as Christians were already in the Day of the Lord. And obviously, that false teaching would completely contradict what Paul had already taught them about the Church saints being raptured to Christ: that they’d be raptured out before the future Day of the Lord would come.
The Thessalonian Christians were shaken by this because the false teachers said Paul himself is the one who has taught this, that the Day of the Lord has already started; you’re already in it. And they were using as evidence the fact that the Christians were already being persecuted and saying, “Well, look, the Day of the Lord is here.”
So Paul is writing to rebut that false teaching, to try to drive home the point, “Christians, you’re not in the Day of the Lord. And I’m writing to you on behalf of the teaching I already gave to you about the coming of the Lord to gather us together to Him in the Rapture. I’m writing in defense of that teaching that we’re going to be removed from the earth before the Day of the Lord, and therefore, we as Christians will not be here when the Day of the Lord comes,” and to drive home to them that the day of the Lord has not started. He says to them in verse 2, “that you be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled neither by spirit nor by word nor by letter as from us as that the day of Christ is at hand.”
Now, many of the Greek manuscripts which are regarded as very reliable say that “the Day of the Lord is at hand.” And literally, it’s that the Day of the Lord, in essence, is already here. That was the problem. Somebody had said, “You’re already in the Day of the Lord.” And that contradicted what Paul had taught to the effect that Christians would be removed before the Day of the Lord began. So to prove to them that the Day of the Lord had not already started, Paul says in verse 3, “Let no man deceive you by any means, for that day [the Day of the Lord] shall not come except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition”—who is the Antichrist. He’s saying that the evidence that the Day of the Lord isn’t already here and you’re not in it is the fact that two things that have to happen before the Day of the Lord will take place have not happened yet, namely, the apostasy and the revelation of the man of sin.
Paul is not teaching here that the apostasy and revelation of the man of sin have to take place before the Rapture takes place. What he’s saying is, the apostasy and the revelation of the man of sin, or the Antichrist, have to take place before the Day of the Lord begins. The implication being that the Antichrist would already be on the world scene and in a position of power before the Day of the Lord and the seven-year Tribulation period begins. He would have to be that in order to make or confirm the covenant with Israel at the very beginning of the seven-year Tribulation period. Certainly Israel would not enter into a confirmed covenant relationship with this man if he weren’t in a position of authority or power to confirm such a covenant with him. So Paul in 2 Thessalonians 2 is not saying that
here are two things that have to happen before the Rapture:
the apostasy and the revelation of the man of sin or the Antichrist. What he is saying is, here are two things that must take place
before the Day of the Lord begins, not before the Rapture begins.
15 According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep.
16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.
17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.
https://www.jashow.org/articles/what-does-2-thessalonians-2-teach-about-the-timing-of-the-rapture/
What does 2 Thessalonians 2 teach about the timing of the Rapture?
Dr. Renald Showers:
One of the passages that is often a question mark with regard to the timing of the Rapture is 2 Thessalonians Chapter 2. Paul in verse 1 says, “Now, we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and by our gathering together unto Him.” That’s definitely a reference to the Rapture, when Christ is going to come out of Heaven and gather His saints together with Him. Let me point out to you, the Greek language, what it says is: “We beseech you, brethren, on behalf of the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together unto Him.”
Let me tell you why Paul was saying that. Paul had taught the Thessalonian Christians, we understand, that the Lord would come and rapture the Church saints out of the world before the future Day of the Lord would begin at the beginning of the seven-year Tribulation period with the outpouring of God’s wrath. But after Paul had taught the Thessalonians that and had left the city, somebody had sent a letter or had passed on words through some form to them to the effect that Paul now was teaching that the Day of the Lord had already begun and that they as Christians were already in the Day of the Lord. And obviously, that false teaching would completely contradict what Paul had already taught them about the Church saints being raptured to Christ: that they’d be raptured out before the future Day of the Lord would come.
The Thessalonian Christians were shaken by this because the false teachers said Paul himself is the one who has taught this, that the Day of the Lord has already started; you’re already in it. And they were using as evidence the fact that the Christians were already being persecuted and saying, “Well, look, the Day of the Lord is here.”
So Paul is writing to rebut that false teaching, to try to drive home the point, “Christians, you’re not in the Day of the Lord. And I’m writing to you on behalf of the teaching I already gave to you about the coming of the Lord to gather us together to Him in the Rapture. I’m writing in defense of that teaching that we’re going to be removed from the earth before the Day of the Lord, and therefore, we as Christians will not be here when the Day of the Lord comes,” and to drive home to them that the day of the Lord has not started. He says to them in verse 2, “that you be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled neither by spirit nor by word nor by letter as from us as that the day of Christ is at hand.”
Now, many of the Greek manuscripts which are regarded as very reliable say that “the Day of the Lord is at hand.” And literally, it’s that the Day of the Lord, in essence, is already here. That was the problem. Somebody had said, “You’re already in the Day of the Lord.” And that contradicted what Paul had taught to the effect that Christians would be removed before the Day of the Lord began. So to prove to them that the Day of the Lord had not already started, Paul says in verse 3, “Let no man deceive you by any means, for that day [the Day of the Lord] shall not come except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition”—who is the Antichrist. He’s saying that the evidence that the Day of the Lord isn’t already here and you’re not in it is the fact that two things that have to happen before the Day of the Lord will take place have not happened yet, namely, the apostasy and the revelation of the man of sin.
Paul is not teaching here that the apostasy and revelation of the man of sin have to take place before the Rapture takes place. What he’s saying is, the apostasy and the revelation of the man of sin, or the Antichrist, have to take place before the Day of the Lord begins. The implication being that the Antichrist would already be on the world scene and in a position of power before the Day of the Lord and the seven-year Tribulation period begins. He would have to be that in order to make or confirm the covenant with Israel at the very beginning of the seven-year Tribulation period. Certainly Israel would not enter into a confirmed covenant relationship with this man if he weren’t in a position of authority or power to confirm such a covenant with him. So Paul in 2 Thessalonians 2 is not saying that
here are two things that have to happen before the Rapture:
the apostasy and the revelation of the man of sin or the Antichrist. What he is saying is, here are two things that must take place
before the Day of the Lord begins, not before the Rapture begins.
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Re: RAPTURE/Pre TRIBULATION~ Elaine/Admin
Admin Sat 11 May 2019, 5:16 pm
Additional Short to a Reply I made over at Jesus' Place. Brought here for reference.
I was Born again of God's Holy Spirit 23rd August 1980 and that was a literal happening just as Jesus said: "you my be Born again."...It is then by His Spirit that he reveal the truth. Reading the Scriptures become alive in Him.
When Jesus was with us, over two thousand years ago he gave us insight according to the Scriptures in the Holy Bible.
[Luke 21. 32 - 33] This generation will by no means pass away till all things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away."
We see this begin to have taken place. just over 70 years ago when Jews came came back more fully to their Land, when The Balfour Declaration was declared 1917 and we see Isaiah's prophesy come to Pass Shall a Nation be Born in a Day Isaiah 66:8
What you speak above Quoted: This is the Future from this time.. The expressions which describe, they represent the subjects of under the figure of a flock, lying down and feeding under the care of the Messiah, as the great and chief shepherd, in the utmost peace, and harmony, where cruelty and evil be no more.
Looking at Matthew 24:22-24 King James Version (KJV)
22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened. There will be people who refuse to bow the knee before satan some will flee to, I assume Petra. These are the elect.
23 Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not.
24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. The deception being because in the last days satan and his helpers, the false Prophets and the False Christs will have powers
In the last days the Battle that will END ALL BATTLES WILL BE return OF Jesus He will appear to CUT these days short. It will be Armagedon The only weapon involved in the warfare is the word of Christ. This language looks back to Isa. 11:4 ‘And he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked.’ Here is a symbolic representation of victory by the power of a word which is impossible to be literally envisaged. The idea goes back to creation. God created the worlds by his word. He spoke and it was done. This creation was mediated through the living word, Christ (John 1:3)
This will happen after the Rapture the Harpazo the taking away of those who belong to Messiah Jesus, it is written I will not suffer you to the wrath that is to come. 1 Thessalonians 5:9 King James Bible
For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,
The Blessed Hope
The first reason we believe the Rapture takes place before the Tribulation is because it’s called the Blessed Hope in Titus 2 :13 while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ,
1 Thessalonian 5: 8
But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and the helmet of our hope of salvation. 9 For God has not appointed us to suffer wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. 10He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with Him.…
Those who belong to him will be removed, then there will be the Great Tribulation as was never seen before where the Battle of Armageddon Zechariah 12. 9 will take place between satan and The Christ YeshuaHa'Mashiach.
In Revelation 6:15-17 we learn the Tribulation is a time of God’s wrath being poured out on the “earth-dwellers.”[1]
15 And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, 16and said to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! 17For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?”
Yet 1 Thess. 5:9-11 we read,
9 For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him. 11Therefore comfort each other and edify one another, just as you also are doing.
Those who’ve been born again are not appointed to God’s wrath yet that is precisely what the Tribulation is – the hour [time-period] of God’s wrath, testing the hearts of the earth-dwellers.
God’s wrath against sin was fully satisfied in the Cross of Jesus Christ. When Jesus declared, “It is finished” He meant the holy demands of God’s justice were completely satisfied. Jesus took our place on the Cross as the object of God’s wrath. Therefore, it would be unjust for God to inflict His wrath on us. Christian won’t be here for the Tribulation because it is the hour of God’s wrath we’ve already been saved from.
Isaiah 66:8 Fulfilled.
Blessings
Elaine
I was Born again of God's Holy Spirit 23rd August 1980 and that was a literal happening just as Jesus said: "you my be Born again."...It is then by His Spirit that he reveal the truth. Reading the Scriptures become alive in Him.
When Jesus was with us, over two thousand years ago he gave us insight according to the Scriptures in the Holy Bible.
[Luke 21. 32 - 33] This generation will by no means pass away till all things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away."
We see this begin to have taken place. just over 70 years ago when Jews came came back more fully to their Land, when The Balfour Declaration was declared 1917 and we see Isaiah's prophesy come to Pass Shall a Nation be Born in a Day Isaiah 66:8
What you speak above Quoted: This is the Future from this time.. The expressions which describe, they represent the subjects of under the figure of a flock, lying down and feeding under the care of the Messiah, as the great and chief shepherd, in the utmost peace, and harmony, where cruelty and evil be no more.
Looking at Matthew 24:22-24 King James Version (KJV)
22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened. There will be people who refuse to bow the knee before satan some will flee to, I assume Petra. These are the elect.
23 Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not.
24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. The deception being because in the last days satan and his helpers, the false Prophets and the False Christs will have powers
In the last days the Battle that will END ALL BATTLES WILL BE return OF Jesus He will appear to CUT these days short. It will be Armagedon The only weapon involved in the warfare is the word of Christ. This language looks back to Isa. 11:4 ‘And he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked.’ Here is a symbolic representation of victory by the power of a word which is impossible to be literally envisaged. The idea goes back to creation. God created the worlds by his word. He spoke and it was done. This creation was mediated through the living word, Christ (John 1:3)
This will happen after the Rapture the Harpazo the taking away of those who belong to Messiah Jesus, it is written I will not suffer you to the wrath that is to come. 1 Thessalonians 5:9 King James Bible
For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,
The Blessed Hope
The first reason we believe the Rapture takes place before the Tribulation is because it’s called the Blessed Hope in Titus 2 :13 while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ,
1 Thessalonian 5: 8
But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and the helmet of our hope of salvation. 9 For God has not appointed us to suffer wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. 10He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with Him.…
Those who belong to him will be removed, then there will be the Great Tribulation as was never seen before where the Battle of Armageddon Zechariah 12. 9 will take place between satan and The Christ YeshuaHa'Mashiach.
In Revelation 6:15-17 we learn the Tribulation is a time of God’s wrath being poured out on the “earth-dwellers.”[1]
15 And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, 16and said to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! 17For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?”
Yet 1 Thess. 5:9-11 we read,
9 For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him. 11Therefore comfort each other and edify one another, just as you also are doing.
Those who’ve been born again are not appointed to God’s wrath yet that is precisely what the Tribulation is – the hour [time-period] of God’s wrath, testing the hearts of the earth-dwellers.
God’s wrath against sin was fully satisfied in the Cross of Jesus Christ. When Jesus declared, “It is finished” He meant the holy demands of God’s justice were completely satisfied. Jesus took our place on the Cross as the object of God’s wrath. Therefore, it would be unjust for God to inflict His wrath on us. Christian won’t be here for the Tribulation because it is the hour of God’s wrath we’ve already been saved from.
Isaiah 66:8 Fulfilled. Blessings
Elaine
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Re: RAPTURE/Pre TRIBULATION~ Elaine/Admin
Admin Thu 25 Jun 2015, 6:59 pm
Thirteen Reasons Why I Believe In A Pre Tribulation Rapture:
1 – The Blessed Hope
The first reason we believe the Rapture takes place before the Tribulation is because it’s called the Blessed Hope in Titus 2:13.
… looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,
In 1 Thess. 4:18 the Apostle Paul writes this regarding the imminence of the Rapture …
Therefore comfort one another with these words.
If the Rapture doesn’t occur until the middle or end of the Tribulation, where’s the comfort in that?
Pretend you’d never heard of the Rapture and I was telling you all about the Last Days. I tell you about the horrors of the Tribulation, all the death and destruction that will take place as foretold in the Book of Revelation; the plagues, pestilence, famine, drought, economic and social upheaval on a scale never seen in history. A third of the earth’s population will be wiped out, then later another fourth! I briefly chronicle the rise of the antichrist and false prophet and finally, the Battle of Armageddon, earth’s worst and bloodiest war. Then I say, “But comfort one another, cause when it’s all over, we’ll be caught up to meet the Lord in the air.”
You’d think I was nuts! There’s no comfort in knowing you’ve got to pass through all of that to get to the Rapture. The only comfort you could gain was by hoping the Last Days were a long way off and that the return of Jesus was nowhere near.
But that isn’t close to what Scripture tells us our attitude should be. We ought to hope and looking forward to the Rapture. The comfort of the Blessed Hope (Rapture) comes from knowing it comes before the hour of trial coming upon the whole Earth.
2 – God’s Wrath
In Revelation 6:15-17 we learn the Tribulation is a time of God’s wrath being poured out on the “earth-dwellers.”[1]
15 And the kings of the earth, the great men, £the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, 16and said to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! 17For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?”
Yet 1 Thess. 5:9-11 we read,
9 For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him. 11Therefore comfort each other and edify one another, just as you also are doing.
Those who’ve been born again are not appointed to God’s wrath yet that is precisely what the Tribulation is – the hour [time-period] of God’s wrath, testing the hearts of the earth-dwellers.
God’s wrath against sin was fully satisfied in the Cross of Jesus Christ. When Jesus declared, “It is finished” He meant the holy demands of God’s justice were completely satisfied. Jesus took our place on the Cross as the object of God’s wrath. Therefore, it would be unjust for God to inflict His wrath on us. Christian won’t be here for the Tribulation because it is the hour of God’s wrath we’ve already been saved from.
3 – Lot’s Example
In Genesis 18, Lot and his family were delivered from the flaming judgment of God on wicked Sodom. God didn’t protect them in the midst of judgment. He removed them from the time and place of the judgment and took them up into the hills.
In 2 Peter 2:9, Peter speaks of Lot as an example to us and says …
… the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment,
The word “temptations” is the same word for tribulation.
4 – Enoch’s Example
In Genesis 5 we read about Enoch. His story is interesting because he never died, God simply took him one day. This occurred prior to the Flood, which was God’s judgment on a rebellious world.
Someone might counter by asking, “What about Noah? He too was righteous but he went through the Flood, being protected by God in the ark. Isn’t that a better picture of God protecting the Church during and through the Tribulation?”
Noah isn’t a picture of the Church. He’s a picture of God’s sovereign protection of Israel during the Tribulation, a subject that gets much coverage in the Book of Revelation. Noah pictures Israel, while Enoch represents the Church, which is raptured prior to judgment.
5 – Daniel’s Example
Have you ever wondered where Daniel was when Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego were in the fiery furnace in Daniel 3? They were there for refusing to bow to Nebuchadnezzar’s image. But where was Daniel? Certainly he didn’t bow either; so where was he in the story? He’s missing.
That’s the point! That he’s not even mentioned is a mystery – foreshadowing the mystery of the Rapture of the Church. Like Noah, Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego represent Israel and how God preserves them during the fiery trial of the Tribulation. But Daniel’s absence pictures the Church’s absence from the very hour of the trial.
[By the way, the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar serves as a picture of the antichrist who makes an image and demands the world worship it.]
6 – We Are To Pray For Escape!
I’m weary of those who mock the Pre-Tribulation position by saying it’s escapist. They claim that since countless believers have faced tribulation, persecution and martyrdom, why should we hope to escape it?
The answer is simple: Up till the time of the Rapture, the trouble Christians have faced came from this corrupt and rebellious world system that hated them; it was satan’s wrath they endured. Jesus told us to expect THAT kind of trouble. But the trouble of the Tribulation comes from God’s hand – it’s His wrath, and Jesus already paid for that for us.
In Luke 21:34-36 Jesus said –
34“But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly.
The “Day” He refers to here is the Day of the Lord, a period of history that begins with the Rapture.
35For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth.
There’s that phrase – “earth-dwellers” again.
36Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.”
A Pre-Trib Rapture isn’t escapist. It’s the thing Jesus told us to look and pray we’d be ready for.
7 – The Jewish Wedding Ceremony
In John 14 Jesus spoke some incredibly comforting words -
1“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. 2In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am,thereyou may be also.
Being 21st Century Gentiles, we miss out on how the original disciples would hear and understand this. Jesus used the terminology of the Jewish wedding ceremony.
Once a man and woman were betrothed, he would return to his father’s house and add on a new room. When the room was nearing completion, he’d send a friend to tell the bride the time for the wedding was approaching. She’d get ready, but rarely knew the precise moment of his arrival. It was part of the suspense and romance of the event that she’d wait without knowing the precise hour of his arrival. But finally the day would come and the groom would go forth to claim his bride.
His friends went with him and made much noise, blowing trumpets and shouting to let everyone know the time for the wedding had finally come. When he arrived, there was a huge feast – the wedding supper, after which the man would take his wife into the new room he’d made, and they would stay sequestered there for, note this, 7 days! After which they emerged and he’d present her to the community as his beloved.
This is how the Rapture will occur. We are now betrothed to Christ and He has gone to prepare our chamber. We do not know the day our hour of His return, but we do know the times and seasons because He’s sent His friends, the prophets to describe them. When the time is ripe, He will come, accompanied by much noise, then He will take us to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb and we’ll be sequestered with Him in heaven for the 7 years of the Tribulation. When He comes again, emerging from Heaven in glory, we come with Him to rule and reign for a 1000 years.
8 – The Outline of Revelation
A Pre-Tribulation Rapture follows the outline for the Book of Revelation given to us in 1:19.
Write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after this.
A 3-fold division of Revelation is given here:
1) The things John had seen – The vision of Jesus in chapter 1
2) The things which are – chapters 2 and 3 = Messages to the 7 churches
3) The things which will take place after this –chapters 4-22
The exact words “after this” open chapter 4.
After these things [the events of chapters 2 and 3] I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven. And the first voice which I heard was like a trumpet speaking with me, saying, “Come up here, and I will show you things which must take place after this.”
After speaking to the churches, John was taken up to heaven. It’s from that vantage point that he saw a description of the terrors of the Tribulation.
The word “church,” used 18 times in chs. 1-3, isn’t used even once after that until the very end of Revelation. Chapters 6-19 describe the Tribulation but don’t once mention the “church.” Because the church isn’t on earth; it’s in heaven. Chapters 4-5 describe the church in heaven, worshipping God
If the mid-Tribulation Rapture position is correct, then chapters 4-5 would have to be placed after chapter 11, and if the post-Tribulation view is right, chapters 4-5 would have to come after chapter 19. Only the Pre-Tribulation Rapture makes sense of the flow of the Book of Revelation and follows the outline Jesus gave John in 1:19.
9 – A Conditional Tribulation
In the Letter to the Church at Thyatira in Revelation 2, Jesus rebuked the church for allowing a gross moral and spiritual polluter to remain among them. In v. 22 Jesus says -
22Indeed I will cast her into a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of their deeds.
If the Rapture occurred after the Tribulation, this wouldn’t make any sense. This is one more proof that the Rapture occurs before the Tribulation and will sort out the genuine believers from those who are mere professors. Genuine believes will repent, and so be delivered from Great Tribulation.
10 – Unknown Time Of Christ’s Return
One of the most powerful proofs for the Pre-Tribulation Rapture is that it’s the only one that can account for the repeated reference to the coming of the Lord being at a time not expected.
Daniel 9 spells out clearly that there will be 1260 days from the time the Antichrist enters the temple in Jerusalem and declares himself god, till the Return of Jesus Christ. Yet Matthew 24:36 makes it clear that no one knows the day of Jesus’s Return. The only way to reconcile this is to see the Rapture and the Second Coming as two different events, separated by 7 years.
The Jews of Jesus’s day missed His first coming because they had misinterpreted the prophecies of His coming. They did so because one set of prophecies foretold a suffering servant while the other set foretold a conquering King. They’d come to see the suffering servant prophecies as symbolic but interpreted the conquering king ones as literal. So they looked for the Messiah to come in majesty and missed His coming in humility.
We need to learn this lesson, for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ also has two phases, just like the Old Testament prophecies of the Messiah’s coming. Before Jesus comes to Earth in glory as the Conquering King, He will come secretly in the clouds to receive His bride. This coming, as Paul says in 1 Thess. 5, is like a thief in the night, not a King in the mid-day sun.
No one knows when Jesus comes in the Rapture, which is very different from His Second Coming, which will be 1260 days after the Antichrist enters the rebuilt temple in Jerusalem & declares himself god, demanding worship.
11 – Tribulation Is Unnecessary for the Church
In Jeremiah 30:7, the Tribulation is called Jacob’s trouble. It’s called this because it’s a unique time in which God awakens the Jews to embrace Jesus as their Messiah. In Deuteronomy 4, Moses made this remarkable statement –
29From there you will seek the LORD your God, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul. 30When you are in tribulation, and all these things come upon you in the latter days, when you turn to the LORD your God and obey His voice 31(for the LORD your God is a merciful God), He will not forsake you nor destroy you, nor forget the covenant of your fathers which He swore to them.
All God’s promises to Israel will be fulfilled and it’s during the Tribulation that He will move decisively to make Himself known to her. But in order for God to make Israel the focus of His redemptive attention, He will need to switch that focus off the Church. The only way to do that, and not violate His promise to never leave nor forsake us is to take the church out of the earth and transport her to heaven.
12 – It Squares with the “70 Weeks of Daniel 9”
This is a rather complex and involved proof, but one of the most powerful.
In Daniel 9, God told the prophet 490 years had been set aside for God to deal with the Jews and Jerusalem in a special and focused way. The first 483 of those years were fulfilled right down to the very day.[2] That leaves one last period of seven years.
If the first 483 years were literally & perfectly fulfilled, we must see the last seven in the same manner.
God said these 490 years were all set aside for His unique focus on Israel. As with the previous Reason (#11), in order for God to turn his attention to the nation of Israel, He must turn His focus away from the Church, and the only way He can do that is if the Church has been Raptured and is with Him in heaven. The church wasn’t here for the first 483 years of Daniel’s prophecy; it’s not going to be here for the last seven either.
As Daniel foretells, that last seven years begin when the Antichrist forges an agreement with many nations that appears to have something to do with the City of Jerusalem and the Jewish temple. In light of all that’s taking place in the Middle East today, and how the nations of the world are lining up trying to figure out what to do to bring peace, this all becomes interesting to students of the Bible.
13 – The Rapture Is Imminent!
The apostles and the early Church all believed in a Pre-Tribulation Rapture. We know that because they believed Jesus could come at any moment, yet they knew they weren’t in the Tribulation.
We find the expectation of Jesus’ coming all over the letters of Peter, Paul, and John. The writings of the earliest of the church fathers carry a strong expectation of the Lord’s coming for the Church. This simply isn’t what we would find if they believed in a mid- or post-tribulation rapture.
They took Jesus’ words literally and seriously when He said, “Watch and be ready, for in such an hour as you think not, the Son of Man comes.” [3]
Finally, Revelation 3:10
In Revelation 3:10-11, Jesus promised the Church at Philadelphia -
10 Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth. 11 Behold, I am coming quickly! Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown.
Because believers at this persecuted and struggling church kept His command to remain faithful, Jesus promised to keep them from the hour of trial that’s coming upon the whole world.
Many Bible scholars and students have noticed an eerie parallel between the seven churches of Revelation 2 and 3 and Church History. Knowing that the number 7 represents completeness, the thought is, “Do these seven churches, in the order in which they are given, represent the entire church age, represented by seven eras or ages?” It’s difficult not seeing a least a shadowy similarity between the sequence and church history.
The Letter to the church at the Greek city of Philadelphia is the sixth and next to last letter. And the last letter, written to the church at Laodicea suggests while they call themselves a church, Jesus doesn’t. He’s no among them; He’s outside, knocking on the door by way of letting those inside know He’s left.
So Philadelphia is the last real church; the faithful church that sees the departure from the true faith by the affluent mainline denominations. It’s to the faithful of the last real church that Jesus says, “I will keep you from the hour of trial.”
“From” is the Greek word “ek/ex” and means “out of.” We get the word “exit” from it. Jesus is not saying He will keep them through the hour of trial, but that He will take them out of it.
Then notice Jesus doesn’t promise to keep them out of the trial. It’s out of the hour or time period of the trial. They won’t even be around.
Consider the scope of this coming trial: It comes upon the whole world. There isn’t a corner of Earth that won’t be affected by this trial; it’s global in scope.
Consider its purpose: It comes to test those who dwell on the earth. That phrase, “those who dwell on the earth” is used 9 times in 7 verses in Revelation. It refers to unbelievers who live on Earth during the horrific events of chapters 6-19, a period of time called the Tribulation. The word “test” means to prove something by subjecting it to stresses that’ll reveal its true nature.
That’s what the Underwriter’s Laboratories do to products they test. They subject them to all kinds of challenging stresses to see what becomes of them. They drop, sink, burn, electrocute, freeze and boil them. They subject every product to whatever kind of trauma they may encounter in the real world. If it still works after all the tests, the product gets the coveted UL stamp of approval. The point of every test is to reveal the true nature of what’s being tested. The purpose of the Tribulation is to prove what’s really in the heart of sinful man. God pours out His wrath on Earth and the result is that the earth dwellers, instead of repenting, become even more bold and brazen in their rebellion. The Tribulation proves that what keeps people from coming to faith in God is not a lack of evidence but a willful heart of unbelief.
Jesus spoke this word to the Church at Philadelphia in ancient Asia Minor. What He says here at special application to them in that day. But it also carries significance to us today. Each of the seven letters of chapters 2 and 3 end with the exhortation –
Let Him who has an ear, hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
The promise Jesus made to the historic church of Philadelphia continues on and finds an even more significant fulfillment for the church in the last days.
This promise is for the faithful followers of Jesus today. God will take us out of the Earth before He pours out His wrath in the Tribulation.
Source: Admin @Calvary Chapel, Oxnard Ca.
1 – The Blessed Hope
The first reason we believe the Rapture takes place before the Tribulation is because it’s called the Blessed Hope in Titus 2:13.
… looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,
In 1 Thess. 4:18 the Apostle Paul writes this regarding the imminence of the Rapture …
Therefore comfort one another with these words.
If the Rapture doesn’t occur until the middle or end of the Tribulation, where’s the comfort in that?
Pretend you’d never heard of the Rapture and I was telling you all about the Last Days. I tell you about the horrors of the Tribulation, all the death and destruction that will take place as foretold in the Book of Revelation; the plagues, pestilence, famine, drought, economic and social upheaval on a scale never seen in history. A third of the earth’s population will be wiped out, then later another fourth! I briefly chronicle the rise of the antichrist and false prophet and finally, the Battle of Armageddon, earth’s worst and bloodiest war. Then I say, “But comfort one another, cause when it’s all over, we’ll be caught up to meet the Lord in the air.”
You’d think I was nuts! There’s no comfort in knowing you’ve got to pass through all of that to get to the Rapture. The only comfort you could gain was by hoping the Last Days were a long way off and that the return of Jesus was nowhere near.
But that isn’t close to what Scripture tells us our attitude should be. We ought to hope and looking forward to the Rapture. The comfort of the Blessed Hope (Rapture) comes from knowing it comes before the hour of trial coming upon the whole Earth.
2 – God’s Wrath
In Revelation 6:15-17 we learn the Tribulation is a time of God’s wrath being poured out on the “earth-dwellers.”[1]
15 And the kings of the earth, the great men, £the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, 16and said to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! 17For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?”
Yet 1 Thess. 5:9-11 we read,
9 For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him. 11Therefore comfort each other and edify one another, just as you also are doing.
Those who’ve been born again are not appointed to God’s wrath yet that is precisely what the Tribulation is – the hour [time-period] of God’s wrath, testing the hearts of the earth-dwellers.
God’s wrath against sin was fully satisfied in the Cross of Jesus Christ. When Jesus declared, “It is finished” He meant the holy demands of God’s justice were completely satisfied. Jesus took our place on the Cross as the object of God’s wrath. Therefore, it would be unjust for God to inflict His wrath on us. Christian won’t be here for the Tribulation because it is the hour of God’s wrath we’ve already been saved from.
3 – Lot’s Example
In Genesis 18, Lot and his family were delivered from the flaming judgment of God on wicked Sodom. God didn’t protect them in the midst of judgment. He removed them from the time and place of the judgment and took them up into the hills.
In 2 Peter 2:9, Peter speaks of Lot as an example to us and says …
… the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment,
The word “temptations” is the same word for tribulation.
4 – Enoch’s Example
In Genesis 5 we read about Enoch. His story is interesting because he never died, God simply took him one day. This occurred prior to the Flood, which was God’s judgment on a rebellious world.
Someone might counter by asking, “What about Noah? He too was righteous but he went through the Flood, being protected by God in the ark. Isn’t that a better picture of God protecting the Church during and through the Tribulation?”
Noah isn’t a picture of the Church. He’s a picture of God’s sovereign protection of Israel during the Tribulation, a subject that gets much coverage in the Book of Revelation. Noah pictures Israel, while Enoch represents the Church, which is raptured prior to judgment.
5 – Daniel’s Example
Have you ever wondered where Daniel was when Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego were in the fiery furnace in Daniel 3? They were there for refusing to bow to Nebuchadnezzar’s image. But where was Daniel? Certainly he didn’t bow either; so where was he in the story? He’s missing.
That’s the point! That he’s not even mentioned is a mystery – foreshadowing the mystery of the Rapture of the Church. Like Noah, Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego represent Israel and how God preserves them during the fiery trial of the Tribulation. But Daniel’s absence pictures the Church’s absence from the very hour of the trial.
[By the way, the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar serves as a picture of the antichrist who makes an image and demands the world worship it.]
6 – We Are To Pray For Escape!
I’m weary of those who mock the Pre-Tribulation position by saying it’s escapist. They claim that since countless believers have faced tribulation, persecution and martyrdom, why should we hope to escape it?
The answer is simple: Up till the time of the Rapture, the trouble Christians have faced came from this corrupt and rebellious world system that hated them; it was satan’s wrath they endured. Jesus told us to expect THAT kind of trouble. But the trouble of the Tribulation comes from God’s hand – it’s His wrath, and Jesus already paid for that for us.
In Luke 21:34-36 Jesus said –
34“But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly.
The “Day” He refers to here is the Day of the Lord, a period of history that begins with the Rapture.
35For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth.
There’s that phrase – “earth-dwellers” again.
36Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.”
A Pre-Trib Rapture isn’t escapist. It’s the thing Jesus told us to look and pray we’d be ready for.
7 – The Jewish Wedding Ceremony
In John 14 Jesus spoke some incredibly comforting words -
1“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. 2In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am,thereyou may be also.
Being 21st Century Gentiles, we miss out on how the original disciples would hear and understand this. Jesus used the terminology of the Jewish wedding ceremony.
Once a man and woman were betrothed, he would return to his father’s house and add on a new room. When the room was nearing completion, he’d send a friend to tell the bride the time for the wedding was approaching. She’d get ready, but rarely knew the precise moment of his arrival. It was part of the suspense and romance of the event that she’d wait without knowing the precise hour of his arrival. But finally the day would come and the groom would go forth to claim his bride.
His friends went with him and made much noise, blowing trumpets and shouting to let everyone know the time for the wedding had finally come. When he arrived, there was a huge feast – the wedding supper, after which the man would take his wife into the new room he’d made, and they would stay sequestered there for, note this, 7 days! After which they emerged and he’d present her to the community as his beloved.
This is how the Rapture will occur. We are now betrothed to Christ and He has gone to prepare our chamber. We do not know the day our hour of His return, but we do know the times and seasons because He’s sent His friends, the prophets to describe them. When the time is ripe, He will come, accompanied by much noise, then He will take us to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb and we’ll be sequestered with Him in heaven for the 7 years of the Tribulation. When He comes again, emerging from Heaven in glory, we come with Him to rule and reign for a 1000 years.
8 – The Outline of Revelation
A Pre-Tribulation Rapture follows the outline for the Book of Revelation given to us in 1:19.
Write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after this.
A 3-fold division of Revelation is given here:
1) The things John had seen – The vision of Jesus in chapter 1
2) The things which are – chapters 2 and 3 = Messages to the 7 churches
3) The things which will take place after this –chapters 4-22
The exact words “after this” open chapter 4.
After these things [the events of chapters 2 and 3] I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven. And the first voice which I heard was like a trumpet speaking with me, saying, “Come up here, and I will show you things which must take place after this.”
After speaking to the churches, John was taken up to heaven. It’s from that vantage point that he saw a description of the terrors of the Tribulation.
The word “church,” used 18 times in chs. 1-3, isn’t used even once after that until the very end of Revelation. Chapters 6-19 describe the Tribulation but don’t once mention the “church.” Because the church isn’t on earth; it’s in heaven. Chapters 4-5 describe the church in heaven, worshipping God
If the mid-Tribulation Rapture position is correct, then chapters 4-5 would have to be placed after chapter 11, and if the post-Tribulation view is right, chapters 4-5 would have to come after chapter 19. Only the Pre-Tribulation Rapture makes sense of the flow of the Book of Revelation and follows the outline Jesus gave John in 1:19.
9 – A Conditional Tribulation
In the Letter to the Church at Thyatira in Revelation 2, Jesus rebuked the church for allowing a gross moral and spiritual polluter to remain among them. In v. 22 Jesus says -
22Indeed I will cast her into a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of their deeds.
If the Rapture occurred after the Tribulation, this wouldn’t make any sense. This is one more proof that the Rapture occurs before the Tribulation and will sort out the genuine believers from those who are mere professors. Genuine believes will repent, and so be delivered from Great Tribulation.
10 – Unknown Time Of Christ’s Return
One of the most powerful proofs for the Pre-Tribulation Rapture is that it’s the only one that can account for the repeated reference to the coming of the Lord being at a time not expected.
Daniel 9 spells out clearly that there will be 1260 days from the time the Antichrist enters the temple in Jerusalem and declares himself god, till the Return of Jesus Christ. Yet Matthew 24:36 makes it clear that no one knows the day of Jesus’s Return. The only way to reconcile this is to see the Rapture and the Second Coming as two different events, separated by 7 years.
The Jews of Jesus’s day missed His first coming because they had misinterpreted the prophecies of His coming. They did so because one set of prophecies foretold a suffering servant while the other set foretold a conquering King. They’d come to see the suffering servant prophecies as symbolic but interpreted the conquering king ones as literal. So they looked for the Messiah to come in majesty and missed His coming in humility.
We need to learn this lesson, for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ also has two phases, just like the Old Testament prophecies of the Messiah’s coming. Before Jesus comes to Earth in glory as the Conquering King, He will come secretly in the clouds to receive His bride. This coming, as Paul says in 1 Thess. 5, is like a thief in the night, not a King in the mid-day sun.
No one knows when Jesus comes in the Rapture, which is very different from His Second Coming, which will be 1260 days after the Antichrist enters the rebuilt temple in Jerusalem & declares himself god, demanding worship.
11 – Tribulation Is Unnecessary for the Church
In Jeremiah 30:7, the Tribulation is called Jacob’s trouble. It’s called this because it’s a unique time in which God awakens the Jews to embrace Jesus as their Messiah. In Deuteronomy 4, Moses made this remarkable statement –
29From there you will seek the LORD your God, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul. 30When you are in tribulation, and all these things come upon you in the latter days, when you turn to the LORD your God and obey His voice 31(for the LORD your God is a merciful God), He will not forsake you nor destroy you, nor forget the covenant of your fathers which He swore to them.
All God’s promises to Israel will be fulfilled and it’s during the Tribulation that He will move decisively to make Himself known to her. But in order for God to make Israel the focus of His redemptive attention, He will need to switch that focus off the Church. The only way to do that, and not violate His promise to never leave nor forsake us is to take the church out of the earth and transport her to heaven.
12 – It Squares with the “70 Weeks of Daniel 9”
This is a rather complex and involved proof, but one of the most powerful.
In Daniel 9, God told the prophet 490 years had been set aside for God to deal with the Jews and Jerusalem in a special and focused way. The first 483 of those years were fulfilled right down to the very day.[2] That leaves one last period of seven years.
If the first 483 years were literally & perfectly fulfilled, we must see the last seven in the same manner.
God said these 490 years were all set aside for His unique focus on Israel. As with the previous Reason (#11), in order for God to turn his attention to the nation of Israel, He must turn His focus away from the Church, and the only way He can do that is if the Church has been Raptured and is with Him in heaven. The church wasn’t here for the first 483 years of Daniel’s prophecy; it’s not going to be here for the last seven either.
As Daniel foretells, that last seven years begin when the Antichrist forges an agreement with many nations that appears to have something to do with the City of Jerusalem and the Jewish temple. In light of all that’s taking place in the Middle East today, and how the nations of the world are lining up trying to figure out what to do to bring peace, this all becomes interesting to students of the Bible.
13 – The Rapture Is Imminent!
The apostles and the early Church all believed in a Pre-Tribulation Rapture. We know that because they believed Jesus could come at any moment, yet they knew they weren’t in the Tribulation.
We find the expectation of Jesus’ coming all over the letters of Peter, Paul, and John. The writings of the earliest of the church fathers carry a strong expectation of the Lord’s coming for the Church. This simply isn’t what we would find if they believed in a mid- or post-tribulation rapture.
They took Jesus’ words literally and seriously when He said, “Watch and be ready, for in such an hour as you think not, the Son of Man comes.” [3]
Finally, Revelation 3:10
In Revelation 3:10-11, Jesus promised the Church at Philadelphia -
10 Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth. 11 Behold, I am coming quickly! Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown.
Because believers at this persecuted and struggling church kept His command to remain faithful, Jesus promised to keep them from the hour of trial that’s coming upon the whole world.
Many Bible scholars and students have noticed an eerie parallel between the seven churches of Revelation 2 and 3 and Church History. Knowing that the number 7 represents completeness, the thought is, “Do these seven churches, in the order in which they are given, represent the entire church age, represented by seven eras or ages?” It’s difficult not seeing a least a shadowy similarity between the sequence and church history.
The Letter to the church at the Greek city of Philadelphia is the sixth and next to last letter. And the last letter, written to the church at Laodicea suggests while they call themselves a church, Jesus doesn’t. He’s no among them; He’s outside, knocking on the door by way of letting those inside know He’s left.
So Philadelphia is the last real church; the faithful church that sees the departure from the true faith by the affluent mainline denominations. It’s to the faithful of the last real church that Jesus says, “I will keep you from the hour of trial.”
“From” is the Greek word “ek/ex” and means “out of.” We get the word “exit” from it. Jesus is not saying He will keep them through the hour of trial, but that He will take them out of it.
Then notice Jesus doesn’t promise to keep them out of the trial. It’s out of the hour or time period of the trial. They won’t even be around.
Consider the scope of this coming trial: It comes upon the whole world. There isn’t a corner of Earth that won’t be affected by this trial; it’s global in scope.
Consider its purpose: It comes to test those who dwell on the earth. That phrase, “those who dwell on the earth” is used 9 times in 7 verses in Revelation. It refers to unbelievers who live on Earth during the horrific events of chapters 6-19, a period of time called the Tribulation. The word “test” means to prove something by subjecting it to stresses that’ll reveal its true nature.
That’s what the Underwriter’s Laboratories do to products they test. They subject them to all kinds of challenging stresses to see what becomes of them. They drop, sink, burn, electrocute, freeze and boil them. They subject every product to whatever kind of trauma they may encounter in the real world. If it still works after all the tests, the product gets the coveted UL stamp of approval. The point of every test is to reveal the true nature of what’s being tested. The purpose of the Tribulation is to prove what’s really in the heart of sinful man. God pours out His wrath on Earth and the result is that the earth dwellers, instead of repenting, become even more bold and brazen in their rebellion. The Tribulation proves that what keeps people from coming to faith in God is not a lack of evidence but a willful heart of unbelief.
Jesus spoke this word to the Church at Philadelphia in ancient Asia Minor. What He says here at special application to them in that day. But it also carries significance to us today. Each of the seven letters of chapters 2 and 3 end with the exhortation –
Let Him who has an ear, hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
The promise Jesus made to the historic church of Philadelphia continues on and finds an even more significant fulfillment for the church in the last days.
This promise is for the faithful followers of Jesus today. God will take us out of the Earth before He pours out His wrath in the Tribulation.
Source: Admin @Calvary Chapel, Oxnard Ca.
Admin- Admin
- Posts : 84006
Join date : 2008-10-25
Age : 79
Location : Wales UK -
Re: RAPTURE/Pre TRIBULATION~ Elaine/Admin
Admin Fri 19 Jul 2013, 1:05 pm
Still have some doubts about a pre-tribulation rapture? watch this teaching
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGN_h-wyECI
Published on 4 Jun 2013
In this segment Chuck Missler discusses the 24 elders. This segment comes from the "Chronicles" commentary published by Koinonia House.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGN_h-wyECI
Published on 4 Jun 2013
In this segment Chuck Missler discusses the 24 elders. This segment comes from the "Chronicles" commentary published by Koinonia House.
Admin- Admin
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RAPTURE/Pre TRIBULATION~ Elaine/Admin
Admin Wed 19 Jan 2011, 1:33 pm
Rapture/Pre Trib
It is not of my wishful thinking or head buried in the sand. Being fully aware
1 Thes 5:2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.
Mathew 24:32 Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh: 33so likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors. 34Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled. 35Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.
This Generation
34 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.
Read
1 Thes 1:10 And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.
DELIVERED FROM THE WRATH TO COME!
God's elect, shall not partake of, because they are not appointed to it, but to salvation they are justified by the blood and righteousness of Christ, and so are saved from it, yes we may have apprehensions of it, especially as we see the days getting shorter for His coming to take his elect away from all punishment in what is to come, which will fall heavy on others which include family and friends who have not accepted his gift.
The Parable of the fig tree from my understanding.
Isaiah 26:6 NIV - "In days to come Jacob will take root, Israel will bud and blossom and fill all the world with fruit."
Isaiah 35:1-2 NIV - "The desert and the parched land will be glad; the wilderness will rejoice and blossom. Like the crocus, it will burst into bloom; it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy...."
The Romans overwhelmed the City 70 AD Destruction of the Holy Temple was burnt down Over one million Jews killed.
The Jews scattered to the 4 corners of the earth
May 14th 1948 Israel re-birth as a Nation.
1sa 11:12 And He will lift up a standard for the nations And assemble the banished ones of Israel, And will gather the dispersed of Judah From the four corners of the earth.
Israel, a nation that had not really existed as a separate nation for nearly 2,500 years, was declared a new sovereign state by an act of the United Nations on May 14, 1948. The nation was born in a day.
With the return of the nation, the ancient Hebrew language has been revived and become the official language of the state. Prior to this happening, the Jews spoke an impure form of the language called Yiddish. The return to a pure common language was again predicted by the prophets.
Isaiah 66:8 NIV - "Who has ever heard of such a thing? Who has ever seen such things? Can a country be born in a day or a nation be brought forth in a moment? Yet no sooner is Zion in labour than she gives birth to her children."
Isaiah 43:5-6,21 - "Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bring your children from the east and gather you from the west. I will say to the north, `Give them up!' and to the south, `Do not hold them back.' Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth..."
The Bible prophesied the Jewish diaspora.There are plenty of more passages we could list of God's promise.
This is happening now his people are returning to their country,and promised land. God obviously wanted us to know when that time was getting closer. What was once baren land is flourishing as the fig tree bringing forth their leaves.
We see earthquakes in diverse places, wars rumours of wars, and the many other examples taking place of the birth pangs. It is increasingly obvious that the time of our Lord's coming is drawing near. Prophecy is being fulfilled daily, and at a faster pace than ever before.
Mathew 24: 34Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.
Sufficient bible proofs that Jesus (Yeshua) warned us to be ready.
Ezekiel 36:11; 24; Isaiah 11:11-12; Ezekiel 20:34; Isaiah 11:11-12; Jeremiah 32:44;
Hosea 3:4-5
Blessings Elaine.
My search of the internet brining from:CONTENDER MINISTRY:-
SIX SIGNS GIVEN BY JESUS TO INDICATE HIS COMING AND THE END OF THE AGE
1. FALSE PROPHETS AND CHRISTS
Matthew 24:5 "For many will come in my name, saying, I am Christ, and will mislead many."
Matthew 24:11 "And many false prophets will arise, and will mislead many."
In the last several years many have claimed to be the Messiah. Jim Jones and David Koresh are examples of these false christs as well as countless others who are not as newsworthy. These false prophets are a prelude to the ultimate false christ, the antichrist. Many New Age groups, some even NGO's working for the United Nations, are anxiously awaiting the antichrist, preparing the way for his acceptance as the head of the hierarchy of gods and the one who will usher in world peace.
2. WARS
Matthew 24:6 "And you will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars; see that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end."
Rumors of wars in all areas of the world now occur frequently thanks to instant media coverage and the availability of a multitude of 24-hour news sources.
Matthew 24:7 "For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes."
More people have been killed in warfare in this century than at any other time in history. As the death toll rises in the Middle East, more and more countries work feverishly to develop devastating weapons of mass destruction. Add to that the expanding threat of terrorism and unpredictable dictators such as Saddam Hussein, and the potential for the outbreak of war exists in nations, kingdoms and places across the globe.
3. FAMINES
Matthew 24:7 "For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes."
As white, Christian farmers are driven out of Zimbabwe in increasing numbers, and foreigners move in to replace life-sustaining crops with poppies that now supply 25% of the worlds drugs, famine spreads across the African continent. The undernourished are not limited to Africa, however. A large portion of the worlds 5 billion people suffers from a shortage of food.
4. EARTHQUAKES
Matthew 24:7 "For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes."
The number and intensity of earthquakes this century is at a level higher than any other time in history. A staggering number of seismic events occur around the world daily. The earthquake seismic monitor IRIS shows all major earthquakes for the last year. Indicated by yellow and red circles, the seismic events of the last 15 days provides strong evidence of the fulfillment of Matthew 24:7 in our day. By contrast, in the years from 1890 to 1900 there was only one major earthquake in the world.
5. TRIBULATIONS
Matthew 24:8-9 "But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs. Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations on account of my name."
Christians are under attack throughout the world today. In the United States Christians still enjoy freedom to worship God without suffering much more than ridicule, hatred, or discrimination at work and school. However in many other countries such as China, Sudan, Africa, Saudi Arabia, North Korea, Russia, and many Muslim nations, Christian suffer much greater persecution and often times death for their faith. During the tribulation this suffering will be worldwide and will continue even to the point of martyrdom. These first 5 signs will increase in intensity and severity as the tribulation approaches, much like the birth pangs or contractions of a pregnant woman worsen as the delivery time approaches.
6. THE GOSPEL WILL BE PREACHED THROUGHOUT THE WORLD
Matthew 24:14 "And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world for a witness to all the nations, and then the end shall come."
This prophecy has already been fulfilled through television, radio, missionaries, the translation of the Bible into many languages, and the internet. People all over the world now hear the message of Christ from missionaries who have the means to travel the globe, and via technology that allows us to communicate with people on the other side of the world right from our own homes, churches and offices.
It is not of my wishful thinking or head buried in the sand. Being fully aware
1 Thes 5:2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.
Mathew 24:32 Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh: 33so likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors. 34Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled. 35Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.
This Generation
34 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.
Read
1 Thes 1:10 And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.
DELIVERED FROM THE WRATH TO COME!
God's elect, shall not partake of, because they are not appointed to it, but to salvation they are justified by the blood and righteousness of Christ, and so are saved from it, yes we may have apprehensions of it, especially as we see the days getting shorter for His coming to take his elect away from all punishment in what is to come, which will fall heavy on others which include family and friends who have not accepted his gift.
The Parable of the fig tree from my understanding.
Isaiah 26:6 NIV - "In days to come Jacob will take root, Israel will bud and blossom and fill all the world with fruit."
Isaiah 35:1-2 NIV - "The desert and the parched land will be glad; the wilderness will rejoice and blossom. Like the crocus, it will burst into bloom; it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy...."
The Romans overwhelmed the City 70 AD Destruction of the Holy Temple was burnt down Over one million Jews killed.
The Jews scattered to the 4 corners of the earth
May 14th 1948 Israel re-birth as a Nation.
1sa 11:12 And He will lift up a standard for the nations And assemble the banished ones of Israel, And will gather the dispersed of Judah From the four corners of the earth.
Israel, a nation that had not really existed as a separate nation for nearly 2,500 years, was declared a new sovereign state by an act of the United Nations on May 14, 1948. The nation was born in a day.
With the return of the nation, the ancient Hebrew language has been revived and become the official language of the state. Prior to this happening, the Jews spoke an impure form of the language called Yiddish. The return to a pure common language was again predicted by the prophets.
Isaiah 66:8 NIV - "Who has ever heard of such a thing? Who has ever seen such things? Can a country be born in a day or a nation be brought forth in a moment? Yet no sooner is Zion in labour than she gives birth to her children."
Isaiah 43:5-6,21 - "Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bring your children from the east and gather you from the west. I will say to the north, `Give them up!' and to the south, `Do not hold them back.' Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth..."
The Bible prophesied the Jewish diaspora.There are plenty of more passages we could list of God's promise.
This is happening now his people are returning to their country,and promised land. God obviously wanted us to know when that time was getting closer. What was once baren land is flourishing as the fig tree bringing forth their leaves.
We see earthquakes in diverse places, wars rumours of wars, and the many other examples taking place of the birth pangs. It is increasingly obvious that the time of our Lord's coming is drawing near. Prophecy is being fulfilled daily, and at a faster pace than ever before.
Mathew 24: 34Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.
Sufficient bible proofs that Jesus (Yeshua) warned us to be ready.
Ezekiel 36:11; 24; Isaiah 11:11-12; Ezekiel 20:34; Isaiah 11:11-12; Jeremiah 32:44;
Hosea 3:4-5
Blessings Elaine.
My search of the internet brining from:CONTENDER MINISTRY:-
SIX SIGNS GIVEN BY JESUS TO INDICATE HIS COMING AND THE END OF THE AGE
1. FALSE PROPHETS AND CHRISTS
Matthew 24:5 "For many will come in my name, saying, I am Christ, and will mislead many."
Matthew 24:11 "And many false prophets will arise, and will mislead many."
In the last several years many have claimed to be the Messiah. Jim Jones and David Koresh are examples of these false christs as well as countless others who are not as newsworthy. These false prophets are a prelude to the ultimate false christ, the antichrist. Many New Age groups, some even NGO's working for the United Nations, are anxiously awaiting the antichrist, preparing the way for his acceptance as the head of the hierarchy of gods and the one who will usher in world peace.
2. WARS
Matthew 24:6 "And you will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars; see that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end."
Rumors of wars in all areas of the world now occur frequently thanks to instant media coverage and the availability of a multitude of 24-hour news sources.
Matthew 24:7 "For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes."
More people have been killed in warfare in this century than at any other time in history. As the death toll rises in the Middle East, more and more countries work feverishly to develop devastating weapons of mass destruction. Add to that the expanding threat of terrorism and unpredictable dictators such as Saddam Hussein, and the potential for the outbreak of war exists in nations, kingdoms and places across the globe.
3. FAMINES
Matthew 24:7 "For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes."
As white, Christian farmers are driven out of Zimbabwe in increasing numbers, and foreigners move in to replace life-sustaining crops with poppies that now supply 25% of the worlds drugs, famine spreads across the African continent. The undernourished are not limited to Africa, however. A large portion of the worlds 5 billion people suffers from a shortage of food.
4. EARTHQUAKES
Matthew 24:7 "For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes."
The number and intensity of earthquakes this century is at a level higher than any other time in history. A staggering number of seismic events occur around the world daily. The earthquake seismic monitor IRIS shows all major earthquakes for the last year. Indicated by yellow and red circles, the seismic events of the last 15 days provides strong evidence of the fulfillment of Matthew 24:7 in our day. By contrast, in the years from 1890 to 1900 there was only one major earthquake in the world.
5. TRIBULATIONS
Matthew 24:8-9 "But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs. Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations on account of my name."
Christians are under attack throughout the world today. In the United States Christians still enjoy freedom to worship God without suffering much more than ridicule, hatred, or discrimination at work and school. However in many other countries such as China, Sudan, Africa, Saudi Arabia, North Korea, Russia, and many Muslim nations, Christian suffer much greater persecution and often times death for their faith. During the tribulation this suffering will be worldwide and will continue even to the point of martyrdom. These first 5 signs will increase in intensity and severity as the tribulation approaches, much like the birth pangs or contractions of a pregnant woman worsen as the delivery time approaches.
6. THE GOSPEL WILL BE PREACHED THROUGHOUT THE WORLD
Matthew 24:14 "And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world for a witness to all the nations, and then the end shall come."
This prophecy has already been fulfilled through television, radio, missionaries, the translation of the Bible into many languages, and the internet. People all over the world now hear the message of Christ from missionaries who have the means to travel the globe, and via technology that allows us to communicate with people on the other side of the world right from our own homes, churches and offices.
Last edited by Admin on Wed 19 Jan 2011, 1:36 pm; edited 1 time in total (Reason for editing : Addition of more Bible verses.)
Admin- Admin
- Posts : 84006
Join date : 2008-10-25
Age : 79
Location : Wales UK -
Similar topics» End-Times Prophecies That Will 'Get the Whole World's Attention'
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» Hi Elaine/Admin (aka Dunggate) here
» THE CHURCH AND THE TRIBULATION
» Ten Things You Need to Know About the Tribulation
» The tribulation is Coming!~BY S. Lee Homoki (1-4)
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